Politics

-- The Vietnamese Permanent Representative Mission to the United Nations and the Vietnamese Consulate in New York hosted Sunday a reception to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year, or Year of the Horse.

Society

-- The People’s Supreme Court of Ho Chi Minh City Sunday upheld death sentence for Cao Trung Lap, 29, for stabbing a man to death after robbing his laptop on Cong Hoa Street a year ago.

-- HCMC police arrested Sunday a triplet of thieves who have arranged fake scene of accident on Hanoi Highway to dupe passers-by and steal their assets.

-- Border patrol and anti-drug officers of the mountainous province of Lai Chau Sunday captured two suspects who had kidnapped a 15-day-old boy. The two are both members of the La Hu ethnic group and one of them is the birth father of the victim. The suspected had attempted to sell the boy to a Chinese man for 4,900 Chinese Yuan, or US$800.

-- Pham Van Day, 22, was Sunday arrested for killing his homosexual partner and stole his asset when the two were having sex in a hotel in HCMC.

-- The two nursemaids at a preschool in Ho Chi Minh City's Thu Duc District have been accused of frequently abused kids at their facility will be on trial today.

-- Can Tho police Sunday dispelled a rumor spread on Facebook that some Chinese nationals have released a number of green pit vipers to attack locals in the Mekong Delta city.

Business

-- Many fake US dollar bills made from metal and coated with gold are available at booths across the busy streets in HCMC. The notes are in $2 and $10 denominations. People buy the “golden dollars” to exchange during Tet as lucky money.

-- Although many mineral mines in the northern localities are registered under Vietnamese businesses, the Chinese miners are those who actually operating behind these facilities.

-- Budget and private carrier VietJet Air hosted Sunday a career-oriented meeting titled “Everybody can become a pilot” in a bid to seek and train qualified candidates to become part of its flying crew.

-- Although many tour organizers wanted to bring their tourists to Vietnam as an alternative for Thailand due to the ongoing protests at the latter country, travel agencies in Vietnam say they are unable to receive these unexpected customers due to the lack of qualified accommodation facilities and tourist guides.

-- The country’s monopolies of power, telecom, and fuel have reported positive business results in 2013 but economic experts are wondering if these are results of their good administrative management or the exclusive rights they are granted by the government.

Lifestyle

-- Director Le Quy Duong is the only Vietnamese representative to attend the Sixth Fujairah International Monodrama Festival 2014 that kicks off today January 20 in the UAE.

-- The Vietnamese circus play “Lang toi” (My village), which has received notable critical acclaim and applause after being staged around the globe over the last three years, finally has the chance to meet its audiences at home. The play will have three shows at the HCMC Theatre on January 24, 25 and 26.

Sports

-- Striker Le Cong Vinh netted his 100^th goal of the V-League as his club Song Lam Nghe An trounced QNK Quang Nam 6-1 at the second round of the country’s top-tier league on Sunday.